Commento a The Great Depression di Lionel Robbins

di Murray N. Rothbard Lionel Robbinss The Great Depression (Macmillan, 1934) is one o the !reat economic "or#s o our time. $ts !reatness lies not so much in ori!inality o economic thou!ht, as in the a%%lication o the best economic thou!ht to the e&%lanation o the cataclysmic %henomena o the 'reat (e%ression. )his is un*uestionably the best "or# %ublished on the 'reat (e%ression. +t the time that Robbins "rote this "or#, he "as %erha%s the second most eminent ollo"er o Lud"i! ,on Mises (-aye# bein! the irst). )o his "or#, Robbins brou!ht a clarity and %olish o style that $ belie,e to be une*ualled amon! any economists, %ast or %resent. Robbins is the %remier economic stylist. $n this brie , clear, but e&tremely meaty boo#, Robbins sets orth irst the Misesian theory o business cycles, and then a%%lies it to the e,ents o the 19./s and 193/s. 0e see ho" ban# credit e&%ansion in the 1nited 2tates, 'reat 3ritain, and other countries (in 3ritain !enerated because o the ri!id "a!e structure caused by unions and the unem%loyment insurance system, as "ell as a return to the !old standard at too hi!h a %ar4 and in the 1nited 2tates !enerated by a desire to in late in order to hel% 3ritain as "ell as an absurd de,otion to the ideal o a stable %rice le,el) dro,e the ci,ili5ed "orld into a !reat de%ression. )hen Robbins sho"s ho" the ,arious nations too# measures to counteract and cushion the de%ression that could only ma#e it "orse6 %ro%%in! u% unsound, sha#y business %ositions4 in latin! credit4 e&%andin! %ublic "or#s4 #ee%in! u% "a!e rates (e.!., -oo,er and his 0hite -ouse con erences) 7 all thin!s that %rolon!ed the necessary de%ression ad8ustments, and %ro oundly a!!ra,ated the catastro%he. Robbins is %articularly bitter about the "a,e o tari s, e&chan!e controls, *uotas, etc. that %rolon!ed crises, set nation a!ainst nation, and ra!mented the international di,ision o labor. +nd this is not all. Robbins also sets the 9uro%ean scene in the conte&t o the disru%tions o the lar!ely ree mar#et brou!ht about by 0orld 0ar $4 the stati5ation, unioni5ation, and carteli5ation o the economy that the "ar brou!ht about4 the dislocation o industrial in,estment and a!ricultural o,er%roduction brou!ht about by "ar demand, etc. +nd abo,e all, the !old standard o %re:0orld 0ar $, that truly international money, "as disru%ted and ne,er really brou!ht bac# a!ain. Robbins sho"s the tra!edy o this, and de ends the !old standard ,i!orously a!ainst char!es that it ;bro#e do"n< in 19.9. -e sho"s that the 12 in lation in 19.= and 19.> "hen it "as losing !old, and 3ritains ca,alierly !oin! o !old "hen its ban# discount rate "as as lo" 4.?@, "as in la!rant ,iolation o the ;rules< o the !old standard (as "as 3ritains %ersistent in lationism in the 19./s). Robbins also has e&cellent sections demonstratin! the Misesian %oint that one inter,ention leads ine&orably to another inter,ention or else re%eal o the ori!inal %olicy. -e also has a criti*ue o the idea o central %lannin! and a ine summation o the Misesian demonstration that socialist economies cannot calculate. +lmost e,ery im%ortant rele,ant %oint is touched u%on and handled in une&ce%tionable ashion. )hus, Robbins, touchin! on the mono%oly *uestion, sho"s that the only really im%ortant mono%olies are those created and ostered by !o,ernments. -e has not the time or a ri!orous demonstration o this, but his apercus are im%ortant, stimulatin!, and sound. Robbins sums u% his boo# in this su%erb %assa!e6 $t has been the ob8ect A to sho" that i reco,ery is to be maintained and uture %ro!ress assured, there must be a more or less com%lete re,ersal o contem%orary tendencies o !o,ernmental re!ulation o enter%rise. )he aim o !o,ernmental %olicy in re!ard to industry must be to create a ield in "hich the orces o enter%rise and the dis%osal o resources are once more allo"ed to be !o,erned by the mar#et. 3ut "hat is this but the restoration o ca%italismB +nd is not the restoration o ca%italism the restoration o the causes o de%ressionB

$ the analysis o this essay is correct, the ans"er is une*ui,ocal. )he conditions o reco,ery "hich ha,e been stated do indeed in,ol,e the restoration o "hat has been called ca%italism. 3ut the slum% "as not due to these conditions. Cn the contrary, it "as due to their ne!ation. $t "as due to monetary mismana!ement and 2tate inter,ention o%eratin! in a milieu in "hich the essential stren!th o ca%italism had already been sa%%ed by "ar and by %olicy. 9,er since the outbrea# o "ar in 1914, the "hole tendency o %olicy has been a"ay rom that system, "hich in s%ite o the %ersistence o eudal obstacles and the un%recedented multi%lication o the %eo%le, %roduced that enormous increase o "ealth %er headA. 0hether that increase "ill be resumed, or "hether, a ter %erha%s some reco,ery, "e shall be %lun!ed ane" into de%ression and the chaos o %lannin! and restrictionism 7 that is the issue "hich de%ends on our "illin!ness to re,erse this tendency. The Great Depression, in short, is a brilliant "or# that should be read by e,ery economist. $t is not at all outdated. $t deser,es the "idest %ossible distribution, and "ould be indeed a ittin! com%anion to -a5litts The Fallacies of the New Economics 7 that re utation o the other !reat e&%lanation o the (e%ression 7 the Deynesian.